Saturday, February 11, 2012

Mica's really into learning about the presidents! He's learning about them in school. He had some off thoughts. He thought Abraham Lincoln and George Washington were friends. I'm just glad he knows about them and seems interested in what he's learning.

He made this image at school of Abraham Lincoln's log cabin:

Looks like pretzels are good for more than just eating!

Today he wanted to draw George Washington. I said, "Well let's look him up."

Mica drew George Washington and got all frustrated because his drawing looked nothing like the image we looked up. Daddy said to start over and draw in pencil instead of crayon, so he could erase. That's what he did. This is what he ended up with:

I thought for age 6 that's pretty darn good! I helped him put a pattern in the hair.

Did you know that George Washington wasn't our first president? You can read about that here and here. Daddy has a text book that talks about each and every president. George wasn't the first.

We went out to Dixie Quicks for dinner. We love going out with Grandma and Grandpa Spiehs. They help watch Isaak a lot and it's a nice break from a busy week. Grandma and Grandpa enjoy going to gallery openings like we do. Dixie Quicks is right next to an art gallery. This time around I didn't really care about the modern showing. It was just colored tiles on the walls. Just not my thing. Dinner was good. We had to wait a bit because it was the weekend before Valentines Day, but it still was good.

I like this shot of Isaak. He looks so handsome and grown up in his grey button down shirt. If only he wouldn't of cut the front of his hair. His bangs look a little funny.

Today we ventured out in the bitter cold to get a few things. I thought we'd have to go to more than one place; instead we just stopped off at Target.

I had to get Valentine treats for Mica's class party. I dislike that their treats have to be bought. I understand it, but I like to make things. I think it's so funny that we can't bring homemade treats, yet the PTA board can sell them at their fairs to raise money for the school. I ended up buying low salt Vics popcorn and mini granola bars that had pink candy melts in them. The only problem is that those granola bars were processed around peanuts. What sweet treat isn't? Lets be honest, kids do not want healthy foods for a Valentines Party. I don't know if I should venture out yet again, or just keep what I have? If I send them, I'll also send a note that they were processed around peanuts. Then any child that's allergic can just have popcorn.

I also went through the boy's section and got Mica another winter hat, gloves, silver exercise shorts and underwear. I told Mica, "Son your butt is getting bigger, so you need some new underwear." We both had a laugh. In truth he has a tiny butt for how tall he is. I let him know that. The last time I got Mica new underwear he told the meet and greet lady at Walmart, "We're here because my butt is getting so BIG." That lady could not stop laughing. Mica was so excited to pick out new underwear this time. He picked out Cars 2 and Superhero ones. He refused to put them in the cart. He held them the rest of the time throughout Target. When we got home I un-packaged the new underwear for Mica to put away. NOPE he undressed and tried them all on. Not because I asked him to either.

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Our boy's have never really had issues with lying. Mica actually has issues with being too honest sometimes. He'll blurt out anything that is on his mind without thinking.

A story involving our six year old-

On Friday Mica came home saying something to the affect that someone did something to him at recess that made him feel uncomfortable. He said to Daddy that he told a teacher and that teacher said, "Oh Mica I don't want to deal with you right now."

Daddy and I thought that was horrible that a teacher said that. It NEVER entered our minds that Mica could have been lying about the situation. Daddy emailed Mica's teacher his concerns.

Then when Daddy went to pick Mica up from school, he was confronted by three teachers. Mica was in fact bothered by a kid. What he lied about was in regards to what the teacher said. In fact Mica never told that teacher anything. Therefore that teacher did not say, "Oh Mica I don't want to deal with you right now."

When Daddy asked Mica why he lied? Mica said, "Because this good angel was sitting above me on one side, and an evil character was on the other side. The evil character won." We really could never get out of Mica why he lied. All he would say is that he did in fact lie. The only thing we could think of was a clash of personalities. I'm a college instructor. I know with experience no matter how I try to relate to all of my students, every once in awhile there is a clash of personalities. I have to say that I'm super lucky to relate and have positive experiences with the majority of my students. Every once in awhile student might dislike me because of a poor grade I gave them, a critique I gave them that they didn't agree with, I've caught a few plagiarizing, I've called them on it and they all the sudden decide they don't like me. Like I said, usually I don't have a problem like this. Every once in awhile I do. Maybe Mica and this teacher have a disconnect for some odd reason. The hard thing is, is I don't know the reason.

With Mica we felt his lie was was horrible because it
really hurt a teacher's feelings. It also put Daddy in a rough spot
because he was sticking up for Mica. Then when we found out Mica didn't
need backing up; we felt horrible for this teacher.

Mica had to come home and write two apology letters. One to the teacher he lied about and another to a teacher he should have told the truth to. Then tonight while we swam at the Y for fun; Mica sat out on the bleachers. He didn't argue about his punishment. He knew that what he did was wrong.

A different story involving our three year old-

On Monday Daddy asked Isaak if he needed to go potty after preschool? Isaak said, "No." Daddy didn't much argue with him not going. Isaak often times says he doesn't have to go when he does. I wish we could break this. He knows how to use the potty, but sometimes is just too busy enjoying life to stop and go. Even though Daddy knows Isaak says, "No" when asked if he has to go potty, Daddy had his hands FULL. Cupcakes went as a special treat, then he had Isaak's crafts and Cousin Elijah's crafts as well. When Daddy got Isaak out of the car at home, he noticed Isaak was wet. Daddy asked Isaak, "Did your teachers take you potty?" Ready for the lie? Isaak said, "No! My teachers were too busy reading the Bible!" He goes to a private preschool. It's hard to know if one should laugh because his excuse was so funny, or scold him for lying? Isaak didn't get in trouble for his lie. It didn't hurt anyone, he also is 3 years old.

Daddy made him take his wet clothes off, take care of them, go potty and get dressed again. That I suppose was his punishment. He's in a, "I can't do it!" stage!

Have your kids ever lied? What did you do about it?

I imagine the way a parent reacts and the punishment varies with age and the impact of the lie.

Monday, February 6, 2012

Cousin Emerson/Nephew to me was able to get off the ventilator today. He underwent jaw surgery last week. There were a few scary moments. His lungs filled up with fluid. Now he's able to be in his parent's arms. He's off his pain meds and is only on Tylenol. Day by day they will have to see his progress to know when he'll be able to go home. He had more done then just jaw surgery.

Today while Cousin Evan is at school, Cousin Emerson's in the hospital, Cousin Elijah and Isaak went sled riding with Uncle Travis/Daddy.

It snowed over the weekend. We have a excellent backyard for sledding.

By the way Cousin Elijah has a new name for me. All weekend he's been calling me, "Miss Alissa". Not "Aunt Alissa," it's "Miss Alissa". It was too cute to correct him.

I knew Mica would be drawn to this product right away. He likes to dress up like a Native American. Chocolate comes from cacao beans. They were found originally in South and Central America. The cacao tree was brought from paradise to the earth by Quetzalcoatl, an Aztec God.

Then I set out on the journey to make chocolate with Mica. Other things the kit provided:

Certified organic cocoa butter

Cocoa powder

Confectioner's sugar

Starter crystals

A temperature indicator

Instructions and the story of chocolate

Cocoa beans to just try out

We used a double boiler to melt the chocolate, but you can use a microwave. It was really easy, but for some reason I was freaking out thinking the temperature gage wasn't working. The instructions even say that it takes up to 15 min.

In the end we had YUMMY chocolates! Glee Gum makes other wonderful all natural candy kits.

US readers, want to win a kit of your choice? Fill out the rafflecopter below for a chance to win by February 22!

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Disclaimer: The opinions on the post are my personal take on the product. This blog is a personal blog written and edited by me. I am not compensated to provide my opinion except for receiving the products themselves to test out. Glee Gum provided me with a free sample of this product to review. I was under no obligation to review it if I so chose. Nor was I under any obligation to write a positive review.

Ever since I had a hive outbreak from Methosulfate {an ingredient that was in a lotion I was using}, I've been looking into making my own bath products.

This PDF answered a lot of questions I had. I still need to refer to it before purchasing stuff to make soap.

My favorite chapters are:

Soap Secrets

Recipes

Don't Make These Mistakes!

Resources

There are tons of recipes to choose from! I decided to try and make Bars of Coffee 'n Cream Soap.

It's really pretty easy. Mica helped me chop up the soap base. He loved the whole process of making soap.

I put it in a double boiler. Then added ground coffee and powdered goats milk. I decided to stay simple this first time and skip the optional coffee fragrance. I kind of wish I would have added it. There's always another time.

Silicone molds work really easily for putting the soap in and when it's time to pop them out. I used a heart shaped one. Here's how they turned out:

This particular soap is for the kitchen. It's an exfoliating soap that is meant to take away strong kitchen odors.

Disclaimer: The opinions on the post are my personal take on the
product. This blog is a personal blog written and edited by me. I am not
compensated to provide my opinion except for receiving the products
themselves to test out. Lisa Maliga provided me with a PDF to review. I was under no obligation to review it
if I so chose. Nor was I under any obligation to write a positive
review.

Sunday, February 5, 2012

I helped Isaak and Cousin Elijah with Valentines this weekend. Cousin Evan did his already. I didn't get pictures with Isaak or Elijah because I was practically doing it for them. They both still need to by guided when writing.

This is the first year I didn't have to help Mica.

He knew exactly what to do and wanted it done his way. I went over and started stacking the Valentines he had done, BIG MISTAKE! He got annoyed with me. He had them in the same order with his directory. He wanted to leave them that way on the table. Funny thing is, is that they all got thrown in a bag in the end anyhow.

I heard Isaak and Cousin Elijah in Isaak's room singing the alphabet many times over again. I stepped away from decorating cupcakes for their preschool to see what they were up to. They were playing with the wooden letters Grandpa Apel made Isaak. They sang the alphabet each and every time they put a letter down. Sometimes they sang it twice. Some of the letters were backwards, but they were learning together. It was so cute!

Faux camping was such a big hit last time we had Cousin's Evan and Elijah over that we decided to do it again. This time the little guys got to sleep in the tent. Evan and Mica got to sleep in it the last time. I guess Elijah was so excited for this! Then in the morning they all got in the tent to watch a movie, while I made breakfast.

In Order: Elijah, Evan, Mica and Isaak's way back behind and to the side of Mica (you can't see him).

I printed out interviews here. Mica and Cousin Evan had fun answering the questions to their interview. I tried interviewing the 3 year old's, but they only answered the first five questions. Each answer was a one word answer.

Here's a few of Mica and Evan's funny interview highlights:

Mica

Question: I Really Like to Wear...Mica's Answer: Cowboy Clothes.Me: (LOL)

Disclaimer

The opinions on this blog are my personal take on products and topics relating to motherhood. This blog is a personal blog written and edited by me.

I am not compensated to provide opinions on a variety of topics. The views and opinions expressed on this blog are my own. If I claim to show knowledge of certain topic or product I will only endorse products or services that I feel, based on my expertise, are worthy of such endorsement.

If you have any questions about this blog, or want to get in contact with me please email me at: anapeladay@gmail.com